


all we're looking for is love

by songofthe52hertzwhale



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 08:50:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18007715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofthe52hertzwhale/pseuds/songofthe52hertzwhale
Summary: Logan plays. Julian sings.





	all we're looking for is love

It’s a bit of a quiet day in Stuart, as Saturdays tend to be. Most of the boys - including Derek, he’s sure - are out in town, trying desperately to charm a Dobry girl who’s only half-interested. Logan likes these kinds of nights. Sure, they can sometimes be lonely. But it’s the perfect time for him to play interrupted, to sing without an audience.

 

He doesn’t typically practice in the traditional sense. He doesn’t run through drills, doesn’t hammer out the same five bars of a sonata until he can play it backwards and blindfolded. Instead, he tends to let his hands do what they will, only realizes a few moments into a song what he’s actually playing.

 

Tonight, it’s something slow. Soft. It takes him a moment to place the melody, and his voice joins in with the music just a little bit late.

 

 _City of stars_   
_Are you shining just for me?_   
_City of stars_ _  
_There's so much that I can't see

 

He hears a door open and shut, somewhere in the distance. He hopes it’s one of the quieter boys - Bailey, perhaps - who won’t interrupt his with loud noise.

 

Still, he raises his voice a little louder, presses the keys down a little firmer.

  
_Who knows?_ _  
_I felt it from the first embrace I shared with you

  
  
His heart clenches a little on the line. He’d gotten so wrapped up in the soft melody, he’d nearly forgotten this was a love song. His fingers waver a little over the next chord, hesitating until a second, soft voice rings out from behind him.

  
_That now our dreams_ _  
_They've finally come true

 

Logan’s lips curve into a soft smile. He doesn’t bother turning, recognizes Julian’s voice from the very first note.

 

It’s always Julian he can count on, for things like this. For finishing his duets, for giving him harmonies he hadn’t realized he was missing. It must be some form of practice for Julian, too - Logan knows he’s aiming for Broadway sometime soon, that he’s a little nervous his singing won’t be up to standard.

 

Logan’s told him that’s ridiculous. Julian’s got a great voice.  


_City of stars_   
_Just one thing everybody wants_   
_There in the bars_ _  
_And through the smokescreen of the crowded restaurants

 

He can hear Julian’s voice growing closer, as he sings the verse. Their thighs press together, as he swings his legs over the bench beside Logan. He leans in, nudging Logan’s shoulder, and Logan just barely manages to hold in a laugh as Julian sings the next line.

  
_It's love_ _  
_Yes, all we're looking for is love from someone else

  
  
Logan grins, hurries to sing out the next word.

  
_A rush_   


Julian grins, singing over Logan’s sustained note.

 _  
_ _A glance_

  
_  
_A touch

 _  
_ _A dance_

  
  
Their voices join, now. Julian follows Logan’s lead, takes the supporting harmonies to his vocals, just as he always does.

  
_A look in somebody's eyes_   
_To light up the skies_   
_To open the world and send it reeling_   
_A voice that says, I'll be here_ _  
_And you'll be alright

 

Singing like this, with someone to back up his duet, Logan can almost believe this is possible. The feelings in the song, the _love_ \-- it almost feels attainable. He can imagine what it might feel like, to love someone that much; to have someone whose mere presence makes everything better.

 

He wonders, idly, if Julian’s ever felt it. If Julian’s pretending, just like he is, or if the emotion in his voice comes from something real. _  
_

  
_I don't care if I know_   
_Just where I will go_   
_'Cause all that I need is this crazy feeling_ _  
_A rat-tat-tat of my heart

 

Logan almost breaks, when Julian’s shoulders sway to the last line. He’s so _dramatic_ , sometimes.

 

Despite his amusement, Logan keeps it together. He closes his eyes for the next line, slows down and sings the next line with as much feeling as he can muster.

  
  
_Think I want it to stay_   


The thing is, this is all Logan wants. He knows how pathetic it sounds, how much of a hopeless romantic he is for wanting _love_ so badly. But he wants the emotions he sings about, the feeling behind these lyrics. He wants to love someone, wants to be loved back. Wants something _real_. He wants to feel like this, all the time; the way he does when he’s singing like this, when he can pretend there’s someone beside him who feels this, too.

 

It’s why he appreciates Julian so much, really. How easily he can slide into character, can sing as if he’s head-over-heels in love at a moment’s notice.

 

He can feel Julian’s eyes on him, as he sings the end of the song.

  
_City of stars_   
_Are you shining just for me?_ _  
_City of stars

 _  
_Julian takes over for the final line, his voice rising a little higher than before.

 _  
_ _You never shined so brightly_

 

Logan lets the last chord echo. Beside him, Julian clears his throat, laughing lightly.

 

“Sorry,” he says, “Kind of cracked on that last line, a little. It’s not quite in my range.”

 

“No, it was good. Thanks for backing me up.”

 

“Well I couldn’t just let you sing a love song by yourself, could I?” Julian says, smiling, “That’s a little sad, you know.”

 

“I might’ve asked you to practice me with me if I knew you were back.”

 

“Just got in,” Julian explains, and Logan finally turns to see the tired circles beneath Julian’s eyes, “Literally, walked into the hall when you started singing.”

 

“Well thank you. You’re right, it would’ve been a little pathetic singing that one alone.”

 

Julian hesitates, just a moment, “So who’s it for?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“The song. Who’s it for?”

 

“It’s not _always_ for a boy, you know,” Logan says, his fingers idly pressing a few keys, “I think this time it was just for me.”

 

Julian’s quiet. When Logan glances up again, he’s staring at him with a soft, unreadable expression.

 

He wonders, sometimes, what Julian’s thinking when he gets like this. He looks so contemplative, like he’s just on the verge of saying something profound.

 

But then, as always, that look gets replaced by his brilliant smile.

 

“I should probably go unpack,” he says, pushing away from the piano, “I’ll let you get back to your practicing.”

 

“You want to grab dinner when you’re done?” Logan offers, “Derek’s out with a cheerleader, I think, but I’m starting to get a little hungry.”

 

“Of course,” Julian says, with that same bright smile, “Give me an hour, alright?”

 

He spins out of the room, and Logan watches the door swing shut behind him. His fingers press down on the keys once more, and he sings, so softly he barely hears it himself.

 

_City of stars_

_You never shined so brightly_


End file.
